Oyibi, Nov. 29, GNA - Professor Paul Boakye, Chief Director, Ministry of Education, has commended private universities for their contributions towards the socio economic and manpower development of the country. "Available statistics indicates that enrolment in private tertiary education is about 40,000, contributing to around 28 per cent of the total student population of universities and polytechnics together," he said. Speaking during the 15th congregation of Valley View University (VVU) at Oyibi, Prof. Boakye praised 364 students who graduated with various degrees, for acquiring the needed knowledge and skills that would position them to be productive and innovative in the job markets. He appealed to all private universities to cooperate with the National Council for Tertiary Education in the review of the norms that guide the provision of quality education in the country.

Prof. Boakye also urged the private universities to help reduce the cost of tertiary education in order to create access to more qualified students in their institutions.

He assured private universities of government's assistance through the provision of academic learning materials and the support for students by means of loans trough the Students Loan Trust Fund. Dr Seth Laryea, President of VVU thanked government of Ghana for granting the University a Presidential Charter to become a full fledged University and added that the institute had made a lot of effort to increase student enrolment.

He cited lack of better access to the Internet services, on-campus hostel recruitment of more faculty staff and the creation of more caring and user-friendly environment that would facilitate the provision of holistic education, as some of the challenges facing the University presently. Dr Laryea praised the German government for its climate Change Initiative Programme, which seeks to construct a centre of ecological studies, rainfall storage system and the planting of 10,000 trees on the VVU campus. He announced that the opening of admission at VVU's second campus at Techiman, in the Brong Ahafo Region would begin in January 2010. He praised Andrews's University, an Adventist University based in Michigan, USA, for its assistance to the VVU. Professor Neils-Erik Andreasen, President of Andrews University also urged the graduands to put to make good use of the knowledge they had acquired. The graduating students presented a 20,000 dollar power generating plant to the University as part of their parting gift. 29 Nov. 09